Those of you who follow my column know that I'm not a fan of comparing two players' stats from two different teams. And you also know that the reason I find this problematic is because individual stats are often driven more by the team than by the player themselves. For example, how many tackles a player makes is usually a sign of how his team is set up or his job on that team rather than how much of a 'beast' the player is in the tackle. Some teams, West Ham is one, despite their reputation as a tough defensive team and the fact that they eschew possession, simply refuse to tackle and/or play passing lanes to intercept the ball. As far as I can tell, this is a deliberate tactic by Sam...
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